[Mike Nolan]

We currently have a Hoshizaki ice maker that makes 'top-hat' shaped clear cubes.

We've had 2 other types of icemakers in the last 23 years, both ones that make a clear sheet of ice then cut it into cubes using heated wires. two that were probably Kitchen-Aid that developed coolant leaks and one that failed due to some kind of processor board failure.

The big advantage of having a 15 inch wide ice maker is that it holds about 50 pounds of ice, more than enough to load a big cooler for a long trip or to fill a sink with ice water to cool down 10 quarts of stock quickly. Also, since the older ice at the bottom melts, you never get stinky ice.

If I had space (and an unlimited budget), I'd put in a blast chiller.

BTW, slow-melting ice cubes also mean you get slower cooling from the ice, because there's less surface area exposed to the liquid. Plusses and minuses.

[Mike Nolan]

Oreo filling always reminds me of American 'buttercream', it tastes mostly like shortening and sugar. I've never really understood those who like the double-stuf ones, I buy Oreo thins these days.

[Mike Nolan]

i always thought Hydrox had the better filling and Oreos had the better outer cookie. Hydrox are just a memory these days, along with too many other foods from our past.

When we're past the pandemic crisis (in 2-3 years?), it'll be interesting to look back and see how many products have bit the dust since March.

[Mike Nolan]

Len, have you considered getting a critter-cam? They are motion-activated and they're fairly inexpensive these days.

We have several outdoor security cameras and sometimes see a fox running through the yard, but I have to admit I'm tempted to get a critter cam that covers my vegetable garden.

[Mike Nolan]

Here's a shot of the interior. The crumb is fairly tight, maybe not quite as tight as the last one I made, but I can get thin slices from it.

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[Mike Nolan]

Last night my wife thought there were several cantaloupes ready to pick, by morning one of them had been half-eaten by critters and another two of them were almost too ripe, but we picked 3 of them, gave the best of them to our neighbor and had one for lunch, along with some tomatoes fresh from the garden.

I think we'll get 2 or 3 more melons in the next few days, there are a bunch of smaller ones but I'm not sure they'll get big enough to ripen, the vines are already dying back.

The variety we planted was 'Hearts of Gold', and I'd plant it again, sweet and reasonable sized. Most of the stores tend to have Athena or Kandy. We've grown Athena once, it produces these HUGE melons, one of them was about the size of a basketball!

[Mike Nolan]

Canning jars and lids are in short supply, more so than usual for this time of year.

It will vary, wherever they put most of the BRM flours is where you'll likely find the semolina, at Hy-Vee it is in their health/organic aisle, at Super-Saver it is next to the other flours.

[Mike Nolan]

North Dakota Mill is the miller.

Here's the semolina/Austrian malt bread, it doesn't make a very tall loaf compared with the way it rises without the semolina, not quite 3" high, just barely above the rim of the standard loaf pan I used (which is behind it in the picture.)

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[Mike Nolan]

I've never tried minced dried onion in a rye bread, if you try it let me know how much you can taste it.

[Mike Nolan]

Well, I had some big containers I could put it in. And my guess is I'll go through it in six months or less, especially once cooler weather comes and I start making pasta more frequently.

I've been making the malt bread with 10 ounces of semolina and 10 ounces of AP or bread flour (haven't decided which I like better yet), so a 50 pound bag would make around 80 loaves. I've been making a loaf about every 4-6 days.

Semolina doesn't cause my wife's blood sugar to spike as rapidly, so I'll probably be making other breads with some semolina in them. I may have to try a rye bread with semolina, for example:
Semolina Rye Bread

Here's what 50 pounds of semolina looks like in containers:

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[Mike Nolan]

I'm doing a loaf of semolina/Austrian Malt bread today using the new semolina.

[Mike Nolan]

I've got plenty of semolina now, 50 pounds of it. Some of it will go in the freezer.

Grocery prices have been going up since March, but the way they compute inflation most grocery price increases don't show up in the national inflation numbers.

[Mike Nolan]

My 50 pounds of semolina came today, I split it up into 6 different containers, some will probably go in the freezer.

[Mike Nolan]

The problem with half shelves is that if you put tall stuff in front of the half shelves, which is, I guess, the point, you can't see much less reach the stuff below the half shelf without moving everything in front.

[Mike Nolan]

I made honey wheat bread last night, since my big bag of semolina won't arrive until later this week.

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